Opener Aman Mokhade scored his fifth century of the 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy (138, 122b, 12×4, 2×6) as Vidarbha outclassed defending champion Karnataka by six wickets to enter its second straight final, at the BCCI Centre of Excellence near here on Thursday.
In Sunday’s summit clash, Vidarbha will play the winner of Friday’s Punjab-Saurashtra semifinal, and look to make amends for last season’s lost opportunity and win its maiden domestic 50-over title.
Going by the thumping victory over Karnataka, which was secured with more than three overs to spare, Harsh Dubey’s side can very well fancy its chances.
Vidarbha lost the toss, but bowled impeccably well to restrict Karnataka’s mighty line-up to just 280 before batting with unrestrained authority to canter home.
Mokhade’s superlative knock also carried him past Devdutt Padikkal to the top spot in this edition’s run-getters’ list (781 runs).
For Karnataka, middle-order batter R. Smaran missed out because of a shoulder niggle and speedster V. Vyshak bowled just four overs before walking back because of the after-effects of a concussion he sustained in the last over of his team’s batting.
But nothing should take away from Vidarbha’s clinical win. Mokhade played a chanceless innings, coming up with strokes all over the park. He showed a special liking to Shreyas Gopal’s leg-spin (37 runs, 28 balls) and his hooked six off speedster Vidwath Kaverappa was the stand-out shot.
With former Karnataka batter R. Samarth (76 n.o., 69b, 7×4), Mokhade combined for 147 third-wicket runs, an association which ended up flattening Mayank Agarwal’s seemingly invincible outfit.
Earlier, after electing to bat, Karnataka endured a silent period at the beginning. The in-form Padikkal had a surprisingly tough time, playing and missing multiple times, as pacers Yash Thakur and Nachiket Bhute bowled tight lines.
The pressure soon showed in the form of wickets, as Mayank was adjudged leg-before to Bhute on review and Padikkal was caught behind off Thakur to leave the home side at 20 for two.
Dhruv Prabhakar, Smaran’s replacement in the XI, came up with a pleasing 28 (33b, 5×4) but holed out at deep square-leg.
From 74 for three, Karun Nair (76, 90b, 8×4, 1×6) and K.L. Shrijith (54, 53b, 7×4) rebuilt. Both batters were reprieved once, with Karun caught at the boundary by Yash Rathod only for the fielder to have overstepped and Shrijith dropped at slip by Atharva Taide off spinner Yash Kadam.
But the duo also showcased some fine shot-making during their 113-run association. Karun cut, pulled, reverse-swept and even played cheeky uppercuts while Shrijith, less fidgety than his usual self, kept his senior partner good company.
Karnataka, though, was pegged back at the most inopportune time, with Karun and Shrijith dismissed in the span of 12 balls. Karun was caught at extra-cover off pacer Darshan Nalkande, and Shrijith paid the price for not moving his feet and was bowled by Kadam.
From 193 for five, Shreyas (36, 39b, 4×4) and Abhinav Manohar (26, 33b, 1×4) were involved in a 55-run partnership for the sixth wicket but Nalkande ensured that there would be no end-overs flourish.
He sent back Shreyas, Abhinav and all-rounder Vidyadhar Patil to finish with a five-wicket haul (10-0-48-5) before the Vidarbha batters took over and fashioned a splendid triumph.
Brief scores
Karnataka 280 in 49.4 overs (Karun Nair 76, K.L. Shrijith 54, Darshan Nalkande 5/48) lost to Vidarbha 284/4 in 46.2 overs (Aman Mokhade 138, Dhruv Shorey 47, R. Samarth 76 n.o.); Toss: Karnataka.
Published – January 16, 2026 05:30 am IST
